Improvement in corn and cane harvesters



FLINN & HAYES. y Corn and Cane Harvester.

No. 27,356. Patented March 6, 1860.

N. VETERS. Photolittwgraplnr. wamingion 4 i;

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

D.. P. FLINN AND B. S. HAYES, OF LE BOY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN AND C-ANE HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,356, dated MarchlvSGO.

To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that we, DARWIN P. FLINN and RICHMOND S. HAYES, both of LeRoy, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, have invented a newand Improved Corn and Cane Harvester; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification,in which- Figure l is a plan or top view of our invention, Fig. 2, aside sectional view ofthe same, taken in the linex x, Fig. l; Fig. 3, adetached view of the gearing by which the rotary cutters are operated.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severaliigures.

This invention relates to a new and improved machine for cuttingstanding maize or Indian corn and sugar-cane, and gathering the same, asit is cut, into gavels, so that they may be readily bound by anattendant and cast from the machine as the latter moves along.

The invention consists in a novel means ernployed for gathering andpresenting the stalks to the cutters, and also in the Ineans employedfor conveying the cut stalks to rotary and intermittingly-movingplatforms or beds, whereby the desired end is attained.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct ourinvention, we will proceed to describe it.

A represents a rectangular frame, to each side of which a lever, B, isattached, said levers being fitted loosely on horizontal shafts a, whichpass into the sides of the frame A, and have each a pinion, b, on theirouter ends. These pinions b b gear into spur-wheels B B', which areattached concentrioally to wheels C C, the axles of said wheels beingsecured to the levers B B.

To the frame A two uprights, c c, are attached, to the upper ends ofwhich, and to the outer part ofthe frame A, segment-bars cl are secured,on which slides e are litted, the outer `parts of the levers B beingattached to said slides. The segment-bars d form guides for the leversB, and it will be seen that by adjusting the levers B the frame A may beraised and lowered to the desired height.

On the front part of the frame A the drivers seat I) is placed, and onthe front part of said frame, and at each side of the seat D,there G, isplaced and permanently attached.

are two inclined shafts,ff. These shaftsf are rotated as the machinemoves along by bevel-gears g g', thelatter gears, g', heilig on verticalshatts h h', whichare placed in the frame A. The-shaftsff at each sideof the driver-7s seat D are not quite parallel with each other. Theirlower ends are farther apart than their upper ends, as shown clearly inFig. l. On each shaft f a wire, E, is wound spirally. These wires formspiral conductors, and their convolutions gradually increase in diameterfrom their lower to their upper ends, the latter nearly touchingeachother. The innermost vert-ical shafts, h--that is to say, those nearestthe drivers seat D-have also wires F wound spirally around them. Thesewires F have their convolutions of equal diameter from the` lower to theupper ends of the shafts, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The shafts h havecylinders placed on them. The cylinders may beof wood, and theirperipheries nearly touch the wires F ofthe shafts h.

Directly back of each shaft 7L a curved pltjlwte, he form ot' theseplates is shown clearly in Fig. 1. They extend from the bottom to theupper ends of the shafts It, and may be described as forming curbs tothe wires F of the shafts h. On the frame A there are also placed twovertical shafts,j lt. The shaftj is allowed to turn in its bearings, andhas a series of horizontal curved lingers, l, attached to it. The othershaft, 7c, is fixed, but has curved fingers l attached to it. The formof the lingers ll of the shaftsj lc is shown clearly in Fig. 1. Theselingers form feeders between which the gavelsm are formed, as will behereinafter fully described.

ln the front part of the frame A two rotary] cutters, H H, are placed.These cutters are placed Justin front of the shafts h h', and in linewith the spaces between theinclined shafts ff. The cutters are rotatedfrom the shafts a, to which the levers B are attached, by means ofgearing a, which is shown clearly in Fig. 3.

On one of the shafts a of the levers B a toothed wheel, o, is ttcd, saidwheel having an endless chain, p, passing around it, which chain alsopasses around a toothed wheel, q, that is placed on a shaft, r, in theframe A. The shaft r has two pinions, s s, placed on it, and thesepinions gear into racks t, which are on each side of sliding platforms II, said plat- .forms being fitted on suitable guides or ways in theframe A, and one platform I being above and the other below the pinionss s, so that when the pinions s rotate the two platforms will move inopposite directions-that is to say, when the pinions s are in gear withThe guides n, on which the platforms I I rest and move, are curved atfw, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, so that the platform which is at thefront part of the frame A will be above the pinions s s. vWhen theplatforms I I are at rest the pinionsss are not in gear with either ofthennsuicient space being allowed to permit the pinions to rotate freefrom the racks t. (See Fig. 2.) Each platform I has a pendant, it',attached toits under surface, and two shafts, b cf, are placedtransversely in the frame A, each being provided with an arm, d'. Theshafts b c are connected by arms e toa lever, J. K represents theattendants platform, which is placed at the back part of the frameA.

The operation is as follows: As the machine is drawn along the shaftsfhlt are rotated from the shafts a by the gearing mand the standingstalks are drawn toward the cutters H by the spiral wires F on theshaftj', each pair of shaitsfpassing over a row of corn or cane. Thestalks are cut by the cutters H at the required height'from the earth byadjusting the levers B, and the stalks, as they are cut, pass betweenthe wires F and cylinders t', and are carried around by the wiresF,between said wires and the plates G, into the space or inclosnreformed by the lingers Z Z, the butts of the stalks resting on the bed uof the front platform, which bed rotates, and by its rotation keeps thestalks in a compact symmetrical form. When a sufficientnumber of stalkshave passed between the fingers to form a gavel the attendant on theplatform K actuates the lever J, and the arms d of the shafts b 'c' willmove the racks t of the platforms in gear with the pinions s s on shaftr, and the platforms will simultaneously move in opposite directions,the front platform, with the gavel upon it, moving to the back oftheframe, and the empty platform moving to the front to receive thestalksito form asucceedinggavel. As each platform reaches thetermination of its forward movement on the frame A the teeth of its bedu fall' in gear with the Wheel n and the bed immediately rotates. Whenthe filled platform reaches the back part of the frame the attendantbinds the gavel and casts it from the machine, and atthe proper timeagain actuates the lever in order that the succeeding gavel may beconveyed to the back part of the frame A. In consequence of the sha-ftjbeing allowed to turn in its bearings, the tingers Z' are allowed toyield or give to compensate for the increasing size of the gavel, andalso to allow the gavel to pass out from the space between the fingers ZZ when the platform on which it rests is moved to the back part of theframe A.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Ihe employment or use of the shaftsf, provided with the spiral wiresE, and the shafts h h', provided respectively with the spiral wires Fand cylinders t', in connection with cutters H, arranged to operatesubstantially as ,and for the purpose set forth.

2. The stationary and yielding fingers Z Z', in connection with theshaftsflt h', .provided respectively with the spiral wires andcylinders, arranged forjoint operation, as set forth.

3. Ihe movable platforms I I, provided with the rotary beds a, inconnection with the lingersZ Z', or an equivalentstalk-holding device,for the purpose specified.

DARWIN P. FLINN.

RICHMOND S. HAYES.

Witnesses: y Y

C. M. SMITH, SAML. J AoKsoN.

